Hungary Still Dominated By Buildings Older Than 70 Years, Study Reveals

Tamás Székely 2017.01.05.

Nearly half of the settlements of Hungary are characterized by buildings that were constructed before 1946, a fresh study by the Lechner Knowledge Centre (Lechner Tudásközpont) shows. The Budapest-based think tank specialized on architectural planning, urban development and geoinformatics has created an interactive map that shows the housing constructions in Hungary over the past century.

source: Lechner Tudásközpont

While in 48,7 percent of the Hungarian settlements the most common buildings were constructed before 1946, only 5 percent of them are dominated by new houses that were built after 1990. Almost 20 percent of the Hungarian cities, towns and villages belong to the 1946-1960 period known for forced urbanization and heavy industrialization. At the same time, Socialist-type panel buildings constructed in the 1960s and in the 1970s characterize 8,4 and 14,4 percent of the settlements of Hungary, respectively.

source: Lechner Tudásközpont

Buildings older than 70 years are in dominant position in several regions of Hungary, including the central and western parts of Transdanubia (Dunántúl), southern parts of the Great Plain (Alföld), and also in the northeastern regions of the country. For instance in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, there are villages where vast majority of the houses were built before the Second World War, Dániel Kiss, a geoinformatics researcher at Lechner, told daily Magyar Idők. The same goes for some towns and cities that are rich in architectural heritage, such as Sopron in Western Hungary or Budapest’s 5th, 6th and 7th districts, he explained.

Wondering how old are the most common buildings in your most beloved city, town or village in Hungary? Just click on the map above to navigate to Lechner’s interactive map!